BRATTLEBORO — A five-year contract agreement is in place for bus drivers and monitors working Windham Southeast Supervisory Union routes.
Union members unanimously ratified the agreement with transportation company Travel Kuz at a meeting on Monday night, Teamsters Local 597 President Curtis Clough said. He shared details of the new contract.
Pay for senior drivers will rise by 26 percent over the course of the agreement. Other increases involve "driver attendance bonuses" and "longevity."
By the end of the contract, employees will be getting double the current retirement contribution. They also will receive improved insurance cost share.
A process will penalize the employer for late payment of wages, Clough said. That had been an issue that he brought up at public school board meetings in the past.
Clough said the contract also maintains "our status quo picket line protection language." At one point, the union raised concerns about the agreement not containing the measure.
Last week, Travel Kuz announced that it had struck a deal with the union.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement for our valued employees and remain committed to providing safe, reliable transportation for our students, schools and communities," Scott Sheridan, vice president of operations at Travel Kuz, said in the announcement.
The news came just before the union was expected to start striking and picketing over what Clough called "the employer’s unfair labor practices." He said the union had notified Travel Kuz that they wanted to retain "the current status quo language regarding sympathetic actions (sympathy strikes) as they propose no changes."
"The drivers were pretty united that they were not interested in selling anyone out at other terminals, particularly since the employer has shown they are very willing to involve other terminals in the business of the Brattleboro drivers," the union's message to the company said. "We don’t feel like corporate is being ethical on this issue, considering just how willing they are to involve other terminals in Brattleboro’s affairs, and I hope you communicate that to them."
When the regular drivers were temporarily locked out of the Brattleboro garage on Putney Road by the company due to contract negotiation disputes, replacement drivers were hired to cover the routes on the first week of school. Picketing outside of schools and contentiousness between the negotiating parties followed.
Clough previously said the union was able to get the language about sympathetic strikes back into the agreement.
WSESU Board Chairwoman Anne Beekman and WSESU Superintendent Mark Speno previously described being happy about the deal. Speno added that he's "ready to move forward."
WSESU serves elementary schools in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Putney, Guilford and Vernon, and Brattleboro Union High School.
